Old Times
by Tiggy the Hopeless Romantic
Summary: Between Shiz and the City of Emeralds, Elphaba and Avaric have a confrontation. Elpharic.


This story deals with prostitution, however there are no graphic details and I feel a T rating is still appropriate. This story can be seen as a prequel to my story He Came Back(Fiyeraba) which can be seen as a sequel to Fear(Gelphie)... yes, my Elphaba does get around, doesn't she?

* * *

Things had happened at a frighteningly quick pace. He'd graduated from Shiz. He'd proposed marriage. She's accepted and he was certain she had began planning the wedding thirty seconds after he'd given her the ring. And now his father's health was failing and he could be close to inheriting that stupid, pointless, meaningless title.

In short he had turned into an adult overnight and that had scared him shitless. So he'd decided to get horribly drunk in the Emerald City. He'd wanted to get his friends together, but it hadn't happened. Boq had obediently returned home the day after graduation to help on the family farm, just as he had before he'd gone off to school. It seemed to Avaric that the schooling was pointless if the end effect was the same as before. His friend had succeeded in one thing; after his blind adoration of Glinda, he'd decided to marry another girl. That might have been due to Glinda's acceptance of a marriage proposal from a man her father's age before winter break. Fiyero had gown home to be a Prince of whatever patch of dirt the Arjiki people controlled. And Crope was too occupied with tending to poor, ruined Tibbett to pay anyone else any mind.

A month previous his friends' chief concerns had been exams and which pub was least likely to kick them out. Now it was all finance and family.

So, even if he was alone, Avaric was determined to have one last night, completely free to do whatever he wished. He wasn't that sure that he wished to spend that night alone in the Emerald City, getting drunker than formerly thought possible, but that was where he was and he was determined to enjoy it.

The pub wasn't in the best part of town. The kind of fun he wanted wasn't available in the good part of town, and more than that he had no desire to be recognized once he was truly intoxicated.

He didn't account for _her_, of course. No one had for the past year and a half. But sure enough, there she was, nosing up against some slob, wearing a dress lower cut than he'd ever expected her to. Unable to stop himself, he grabbed her by the wrist to pull her away from her likely soon-to-be client.

Annoyed at the prospect of losing a night's work, she whirled around, nearly ready to slap him. When she recognized him, her hand hovered in mid-air, slowing falling to her side. He eyed her, shocked at seeing that much of the green skin exposed, the black hair loose and flowing, make-up highlighting the so-normal-they're-freakish brown eyes. Elphaba Thropp had gone from Shiz's star pupil and resident revolutionary to your garden variety prostitute. Clearly unsure of what meeting him meant, her voice lowered. "What do you want?"

What did he _want_? He wanted to go back to being Shiz University's golden boy. He wanted his friends back as they had once been. He wanted to _have_ a future, not be _in_his future. He settled for acting on a desire that he had never acted on before. The thought that she couldn't refuse him was intoxicating. "What do I want, Miss Elphaba?"

She blinked, not liking being reminded of who she had once been. It reminded her that she had certaintly fallen. "That's what I asked you, Master Avaric," she said, spitting out his name. Her stance was as proud as it had always been, but that pride didn't reach her eyes anymore.

He thought back to feelings he had suppressed, questions he had wanted to ask, ideas he had ignored. How he wanted to go back! "You or anyone else can't give me what I want, Elphaba." She seemed slightly alarmed at getting an answer that required some thought and a mild concern clouded her features. Flipping a coin in his head, he made a decision and bit the bullet. "How much?"

"What?" she asked, not understanding who this person she had once known now was. He didn't say a word, simply eyed her, just the way the other men had, his mind drifting to whether or not the rest of her body was green. "Oh," she nearly whispered. She blushed and murmured a modest amount, embarrassed at her profession.

He nodded. "Alright, then." Somewhat awkwardly, he offered her his arm. After a moment of hesitation, she took it.

They didn't speak as they walked to the hotel in a better part of town than she was used to(and worse than he usually frequented) or when he laid down an embarrassing amount of money and demanded a room. They walked up to it and he unlocked the door, held it open for her, and closed it behind them.

Only then did she regain some of herself. "I can remember you saying you would never touch me."

In his alcohol addled mind he couldn't really remember it but didn't doubt that he'd said it. "Never say never, right?" Intending to have what he paid for, he kissed her hard on the mouth. He didn't know what he'd expected. Perhaps part of him had assumed that the talkative, opinionated, bookworm of a girl would be as inexperienced as he had thought she would always be. He knew he was surprised to be reminded that she wasn't that person anymore, that she was a veteran at this. A seasoned slut, one could say.

But that wasn't so much what he wanted. He wanted the girl he'd always wondered about but would never _try_ due to what people would say. So he told her that and went on to explain, "I was always.... curious."

She looked down and almost smiled as she deftly unbuttoned her dress and let it fall to the floor. "She's not here anymore. You should've tried your chances when she was still around."

"Would she have responded?" He was genuinely curious now as he unbuttoned his shirt and started undoing his pants.

She stepped out of the dress. "I don't know," she said and pushed his hands away, freeing him from his undergarments herself. He was on the verge of forgetting that to her this was business, her way of living now. She had not forgotten and guided his hands to her body.

He pushed her to the bed so he could take the oppourtunities he'd always avoided.

--

The next morning she woke up alone, the other side of the bed cold. A generous amount of paper bills sat on the table. Smoothing out the blanket and pulling on her discarded dress, she cried though she would deny it to anyone who dared question her about it.


End file.
